Riyadh: A Saudi official said Friday police opened fire on demonstrators in self defence when a man shot at officers from the crowd, as the oil-rich kingdom braced for more protests.
The royal court official who asked not to be named said police fired at an armed man who had infiltrated a protest late Thursday and fired shots at security forces.
Witnesses said three people were wounded when police opened fire at Shiite demonstrators in Eastern Province who were calling for the release of prisoners.
"Security men shot and wounded the man and arrested him," the official said. The man was badly injured and remained in custody awaiting interrogation.
The incident comes as tensions mount ahead of a planned "Day of Rage" on Friday to protest for political and economic reforms in the monarchy, where the Shura (consultative) Council is fully appointed.
The unrest has raised concern abroad, with the United States saying it would closely monitor the situation in Saudi Arabia.
"We will of course continue to monitor closely this particular situation," said Ben Rhodes, a senior foreign policy adviser to President Barack Obama, on Thursday.
"What we have said is that we are going to support a set of universal values in every country in the region."
The Human Rights First Society (HRSF) of Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the police shootings in Eastern Province, which has the biggest concentration of Shiites of any part of the country.
"HRFS condemns, with the loudest and clearest words, the use of all kinds of force to disperse demonstrators, particularly when live ammunition was used last night against the demonstrators in Qatif," it said in a statement.
The rights body said police used "deplorable force" against a peaceful demonstration, wounding "several people". It called on international human rights groups to condemn the violence.
"We call on the Custodian Of The Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and the Saudi government to apply self constraint in dealing with the demonstrators today," it said, referring to protests scheduled after Friday prayers.
"We ask that all police forces be kept away from the streets or be completely neutralised, and if the government insists on their presence then they should be stripped of all kinds of weapons."
Security has been beefed up in Riyadh ahead of the demonstrations and the interior ministry has said the government will not tolerate any kind of street agitation in the kingdom, where protests of any kind are illegal.
